Today & tomorrow, I’ll conclude my mini-travelog; vicariously taking you along on our UK trip.  Maybe I didn’t say before, but this was my 1st trip back across the pond since 1995.  And the strange thing was that I never felt I had traveled that far and was in a ’strange land’.  Can’t quite explain it other than little or no language barrier, etc.; but it was if I’d never flown 7+ hours to another continent.

Coming back is quite a different story!  Time difference you know creates havoc with one’s bio-rthymns (hard time spelling that word correctly - but you know what I mean).

Wednesday of last week was all day in York and we took full advantage.  The city dates back to the Roman Empire days and as such has maintained much of the old city walls & gates (called “bars”).  Just as one can do in Jerusalem at the ‘old city’; you can walk around the York walls.  And we did so!

Have to say that the views were magnificent and the lack of people-traffic was a great relief!  The walls are thick enough in most places to allow 2 people to walk side by side without danger of falling.  Most places do not have a retainer fence, so it’s travel at your own risk (actually very little risk is involved unless you have a fear of heights). 

At Mickelgate Bar (the ‘gate’ at Mickelgate Street), we descended to take care of necessary biological challenges and discovered a charming bookstore with attached cafe’ at the rear.  What delighted me was a tiny outdoor courtyard (we’d call it a patio) with a few tables for folks who wanted to soak up the sunshine that blessed all the morning.  The break afforded me my first cappucino of the day and Harold an opportunity to catch up on the news with an early edition newspaper.  It was wonderful!

Back on the walls, we continued the 2+ mile walk and descended near a bridge over the Ouze.  We decided to take a short cruise on the river and learned that the Romans came there because of the convergence of two major rivers (the Ouze & the Foss) & built the city on the land between the two because the river configuration provided considerable safety and security from the raiding hoards that raged in those days. 

Back on land after the 45-minute trip up and back the Ouze; we headed for the Minster area again as there is much park and garden areas between the river and the Minster at this point.  We wandered to the York Museum, but decided to pass after realizing the size of the building would afford us little time to see it all for the money we would pay!  So we settled for a look at the remains of St. Mary Abbey on the park grounds near the Museum.

One of the fun things when we’re away is to ‘explore’ a little those things that are “off the map”.  There are such great little streets & what we would call alleyways that don’t seem to appear on any tourist map.  York calls them “snickelways”.  Not having the 2 books that identify and explain the “snickelways”, we just took this turn and that turn and found a few of the delightful venues that appear unchanged since they were first built.  If one has a very active imagination, you can imagine how it must have been in those medieval days during the period of ‘chivalry’.

I wanted to discover the “Roman Bath”, so with trusty map in hand, we found the place tucked in a corner of one of the city squares.  The basement reveals the remains of an early Roman bath frequented by the Roman Legions that occupied York during the remaining days of the empire.  There was a great explanation of how the baths were constructed and how the Romans provided heat in the “caladrium”.  For that period of history, the Romans were smarter “than the average bear”.

What I found fascinating was that the baths appeared to be the forerunner of our modern “fitness” clubs complete with what we call a “sauna”.

We were 2 weary folk in need of refreshment, so we found a pub on one of the narrow cobbled streets that served mostly indigenous fare.   So we tried Yorkshire Pudding - mine with roast beef and Harold had pork in his.  It’s an interesting dish with the meat in the center covered with rich (and fattening I might add) gravy ringed with a batter similar to pancakes except less sweet.

Back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before departing near noon the following day for Edinburgh via train.  I finished Russell Watson’s autobiography (”Finding My Voice - My Story”) days before and now Harold was totally engrossed in it as well!  The television only afforded us 2 channels so that was a bust and I feel asleep rapidly with sweet dreams of great music, knights & ladies-in-waiting running about my mind.

We had some time on Thursday before our train departure, so I walked back up Mickelgate towards the Bar to find the delightful bookstore where I’d purchased some items the day before.  I wanted something on the history of the Plantaganent kings that ruled in Britain from Henry I through the Black Prince (at least I think that’s the timeline).  Couldn’t find what I was looking for, so settled on a history that began with Henry III and moved forward into a more ‘modern’ period.  Found it in a book entitled “The Age of Chivalry”.

Following a quick taxi ride with a wonderful York native who gave us a running history lesson and brief glimpse into the sheep shearing business before dropping us at the rail station; we boarded the train for Edinburgh via Newcastle.  I’m always amazed at the sophistication of rail travel in the countries across the pond.  Inexpensive by our standards and plenty of connections so that folks can get almost anywhere via rapid transit. 

We could take a lesson from the Europeans in this category!

Tomorrow more on Edinburgh and the adventure of getting home via a highly organized & professional airport staff at Edinburgh in contrast with the havoc we encountered in Newark!  Gotta tell you, I was ready to take the next plane back to the UK!

Enough for today.  We’ll be back on track with the usual banter come Sunday; leaving behind awesome memories that will stay with us for a lifetime!

Have an awesome Friday with considerable successes & ample time to wind down before a weekend of summer leisure fun!

Linda, a fellow journeyer